Wednesday, February 13, 2008

This date in (personal) history

I was looking through my training logs for the past few years. I just happened to look at my total running mileage as of this date for the past few years. Here is what I found:

2004: 3772005: 1112006: 782007: 2482008: 275

In 2004, I was working with a coach, Kevin Setnes, who believed in high mileage. I was also training in anticipation of the Hardrock lottery for that year, and I was picked in the lottery that year, which intensified my mileage focus even more.

In 2005, I was working with a different coach who had a very different training philosophy than Kevin. All in all, it simply didn't work for me - not enough miles. I ended up being pulled from WS at mile 93 that year after missing the time cut-off. I think that racing the tough Squaw Peak 50 three weeks before WS was a big mistake that year, especially given my lack of total training miles that season.

In 2006, I was fighting an illness for a lot of January and I was also focused on a ski instructor examination. I barely ran at all in January of that year, but I passed my skiing test.

Last year, I was off to a good start, but I got sick right about this time and my mileage went downhill quickly after mid-February.

In both 2006 and 2007, despite illnesses in the winter, I ran 100 mile PRs at the VT100.

I looked at my weight on this date for each of those years. In each of those other years, my weight on this date was 190-196. This year, it's 188 and I've added about 10 pounds of muscle in the past year. My bodyfat percentage is currently the lowest it's been since I toed the line at Hardrock in 2004.

So, it's a good start, but it will all mean nothing unless I sustain things through the coming months.

I filled out my race app today for a 50K the weekend after I pace at Massanutten. That race should complete my spring racing schedule, with a 50K in March, another in May, three events in May (one pacing) and then training on my own and a taper in June.